Battle of Cape Sarych

Battle of Cape Sarych Part of World War I Russian pre-dreadnoughts taking fire during the battle Date November 18, 1914 Location off Cape Sarych, Crimea, Black Sea Result Inconclusive Belligerents  Russian Empire  Ottoman Empire Commanders and leaders Andrei Eberhardt Wilhelm Souchon Strength 5 pre-dreadnought battleships 3 light cruisers 12 destroyers 1 battlecruiser 1 light cruiser 2 destroyers Casualties and losses 34 killed 21 wounded 1 battleship damaged 12 killed 1 battlecruiser damaged

The Battle of Cape Sarych was a naval engagement fought off the coast of Cape Sarych in the Black Sea during the First World War. In November 1914, two modern Ottoman warships, a light cruiser and a battlecruiser engaged a Russian fleet including five obsolescent pre-dreadnought battleships in a short action.

Background

On November 17, 1914, a Russian force struck Ottoman maritime communications Trebizond. German Admiral Wilhelm Souchon sortied out to intercept it as it returned to Crimea, but failed.^[1]

Battle

On November 18, around midday, the Ottoman battlecruiser Yavuz Sultan Selim, the light cruiser Midilli, and two destroyers sighted the Russian fleet off Cape Sarych.^[2] The Russian ships were steaming in line with the Evstafi as Vice Admiral Andrei Eberhardt's flagship. Russian naval forces had begun bombarding the Ottoman coast in November 1914, forcing Admiral Souchon to sortie from Bosporus. The four other Russian vessels were the Ioann Zlatoust, the Panteleimon, the Tri Sviatitelya and the Rostislav.

Map of the battle

Damage to the Evstafi from the battle

A few Russian cruisers and twelve destroyers were with the fleet but they were out of the range of Ottoman fire and did not engage in battle. When the Yavuz Sultan Selim came within range of Evstafi, the two opened fire on each other and for fourteen minutes the duel lasted. Evstafi's first shot was a hit which struck one of the Ottoman battlecruiser's 6-inch guns at a range of about 4,000 yards (3,700 m). An ammunition stack blew up and killed the gun crew, the only Ottoman casualties of the battle. When the Ioann Zlatoust came into effective range she fired six shells with her bow gun as it was the only weapon capable of bearing on the battlecruiser, none of these shots met their target. The Ottomans and their German allies hit the Evstafi six times, one shell hit the portside of her hull and another hit just next to one of the 12-inch turrets. Outnumbered, Souchon's ships withdrew and a heavy fog set in so the two navies disengaged and steamed back to friendly waters. Eleven Germans and one Turk were killed in the action.^[3]

See also

• Mediterranean naval engagements during World War I
• Naval warfare of World War I

References

1. Halpern, Paul G. (11 October 2012). A Naval History of World War I. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 9781612511726.
2. Hall Jr., Owen P. (2010). The Last Battlecruiser (2nd ed.). Merriam Press. p. 117.
3. Tucker, Spencer; Roberts, Priscilla Mary (2005). World War One (illustrated, reprint ed.). ABC-CLIO. p. 262. ISBN 9781851094202.